Comparison of model-simulated and observed currents in the central Adriatic during DART

[1] Numerical simulations of the Adriatic Sea were performed with the Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) during the Dynamics of the Adriatic in Real Time (DART) Experiments conducted between October 2005 and September 2006. Grid resolution was 1 km. Model forcing included tides, surface fluxes from the Aire Limitee Adaptation Dynamique Developpement International (ALADIN) atmospheric model, relaxation to a daily satellite sea surface temperature analysis, extensive river and runoff discharges, and open boundary conditions south of Otranto specified from a global model. Currents predicted by the model were compared with currents from 12 Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) moorings located along a line between the Gargano Peninsula, Italy, and Split, Croatia. The nontidal comparisons were performed with detided currents. Correlations between the model and ADCP currents were highest in the Western Adriatic Current (WAC), which flows southeastward along the Italian coast. Lowest correlations were in the interior of the Adriatic, likely because of instability processes. Correlations between the ALADIN winds and the model and ADCP currents at the mooring locations were also highest in the WAC. For November 2005 through August 2006, the model and ADCP mean WAC transports were 0.321 and 0.304 Sv, respectively, with a temporal correlation of 0.79. Comparison of current variance showed best agreement near the Italian and Croatian coasts. In the interior, the NCOM current variance compared fairly well with that of the ADCPs for November–January but decreased significantly relative to the ADCPs for February–August. Spectral analyses indicate most of the difference in variance to be at periods exceeding 2 days.